Toothpick dispenser



NOV. 8, 1955 g, WARD TOOTHPICK DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 22, 1952 Fig. 4

Charlie 5. Ward INVENTOR.

United States Patent TOOTHPICK DISPENSER Charlie E. Ward, Norfolk, Va.

Application September 22, 1952, Serial No. 310,763

2 Claims. (Cl. 221-200 This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structural refinements in toothpick dispensers, and the principal object of the invention is to dispense toothpicks, one at a time, in a highly sanitary manner.

Some of the advantages of the invention reside in its simple construction, dependable operation and in its adaptability to economical manufacture.

With the above more important objects and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention consists essentially of the arrangement and construction of parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view thereof;

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 4-4 in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a sectional detail, taken substantially in the plane of the line 55 in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 6-6 of Figure 3;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the dispensing roller used in the invention, and

Figure 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of the toothpick receiving member at the outlet of the dispenser.

Like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the invention comprises a toothpick dispenser which is designated generally by the reference character 10 and embodies in its construction a vertically elongated housing 12 including a front wall 14, a pair of side walls 16 and a back wall 18, the entire housing 12 being supported by a suitable base 20, as shown.

The upper portion of the housing affords a downwardly tapered hopper 22 having an inclined bottom wall 24 leading to a restricted throat or passage 26, this passage being defined by a convex portion 28 of the back wall 18. In order that toothpicks in the hopper 22 may remain substantially parallel, the upper portion of the hopper is provided with a transverse partition 30 having its lower edge spaced above the bottom wall 24 of the hopper. The housing 12 is also equipped with a hinged cover 32 for the hopper 22, and a suitable latch 34 with a lock 36 may be provided to prevent the cover from being opened by unauthorized persons.

The housing 12 affords a chamber 38 below the bottom 24 of the hopper 22, this chamber being in communication with the passage 26 and having an outlet mouth 40 from which a toothpick may be removed after it is ejected from the dispenser. Suitable cradles 42, provided with notches 44, may be provided in the mouth 40 to receive the ejected toothpicks as indicated at 46 in Figure 4.

A rotatable dispensing roller 48 is mounted transversely in the chamber 38 on a rotatable shaft 50 and is provided in the lateral surface thereof with a longitudinally extending toothpick receiving groove 52. The depth and width of this groove conforms substantially to the dimensions of a toothpick, the latterbeing indicated at 54 in Figure 4.

The arcuate portion 28 of the wall 18 extends inwardly and has a continuing portion 56 which is. rotatably engaged by the roller 48, so that when the roller rotates in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 4, toothpicks in the passage 26 will gravitate toward the roller 48 and one toothpick at a time will bereceivedin the groove 52 and carried by the roller 48 to a position where the groove 52 is substantially at the bottom of the roller. In that position, the toothpick will drop from the groove 52 into the cradles 42 in the dispensing mouth 40, in readiness to be picked up by the user.

To assist toothpicks in becoming received in the groove 52 of the roller 48, means are provided for agitating the toothpicks in the bottom portion of the passage 26 and urging the same against the roller 48. These means com prise a roller 58 which is mounted on a shaft 60 under the passage 26. The roller 58 is equipped with a plurality of radially projecting, flexible fingers 62 which project into the chamber 26 through a slot 64 provided in the wall portion 28, it being noted that the fingers 62 are engageable with the roller 48 so that they urge toothpicks into the groove 52. It is intended that the roller 58 be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 4.

To prevent any possibility of more than one toothpick becoming lodged in the groove 52 at the same time, a sweeping roller 66 is mounted in the chamber 38 on a shaft 68. This roller, in effect, comprises a plurality of coaxial disks 70 having radially projecting bristles 72, the roller 66 being rotatable in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 4 and the bristles 72 contacting the surface of the roller 48 for the purpose of preventing possible jamming of toothpicks in the groove 52.

An arcuate shield 74 extends downwardly from the hopper bottom 24 to the top portion of the roller 48, and this shield is provided with a plurality of slots 76 through which the bristles 72 may extend in contact with the roller 48.

The various shafts 50, 60, 68 project outwardly through one of the housing side walls 16 into a casing 76 provided exteriorly of the housing, this casing being in the form of a gear box which accommodates a relatively large, internal gear 78 secured to the shaft 50. This shaft 50 also carries a rotatable actuating knob 80 which is disposed at the outside of the casing 76, and as is best shown in Figure 6, the gear 78 meshes with a pair of pinions 82, 84, secured to the respective shafts 60, 68. Accordingly, when the knob 80 is turned, the shafts 50, 60 and 68 will all be rotated in the same direction (counterclockwise as viewed in Figure 4), and to prevent the mechanism from being rotated in a clockwise direction, a resilient pawl 86 is attached to the housing 12 at 88 and engages the internal teeth of the gear 78 in such manner as to permit counter-clockwise rotation of that gear only. A stop pin 90 is provided on the housing 12 to prevent the pawl 86 from becoming disengaged from the gear 78.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be readily understood from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is g to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A toothpick dispenser comprising a housing including a hopper for the reception of toothpicks, a dispensing chamber below said hopper 'and a passage between the hopper and said chamber for receiving the toothpicks by gravity from the hopper, a rotatable dispensing roller mounted in said chamber adjacent said passage and provided in its periphery with a longitudinal toothpick receiving groove, an agitating roller rotatably mounted adjacent the dispensing roller and including flexible fingers projecting into said passage for engaging a toothpick in the groove, a sweeping roller rotatably mounted in said chamber and including bristles engaging the dispensing roller for sweeping surplus toothpicks from the groove, and means for simultaneously rotating the dispensing roller, the agitating roller and the sweeping roller in the same direction, said passage including a bottom having a slot therein, said agitating roller being disposed below said bottom and said fingers projecting through the slot into said passage.

2. A toothpick dispenser comprising a housing including a hopper for the reception of toothpicks, a dispensing chamber below said hopper and a passage between the hopper and said chamber for receiving the toothpicks by gravity from the hopper, a rotatable dispensing roller mounted in said chamber adjacent said passage and provided in its periphery with a longitudinal toothpick receiving groove, an agitating roller rotatably mounted adjacent the dispensing roller and including flexible fingers projecting into said passage for engaging a toothpick in the groove, a sweeping roller rotatably mounted in said chamber and including bristles engaging the dispensing roller for sweeping surplus toothpicks from the groove, and means for simultaneously rotating the dispensing roller, the agitating roller and the sweeping roller in the same direction, together with a shield extending from the bottom of said hopper to said dispensing roller and provided with slots, said sweeping roller being mounted adjacent said shield and said bristles projecting through the last named slots to engage the dispensing roller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 513,472 Alexander Jan. 30, 1894 789,724 Gofie May 16, 1905 998,667 Baker July 25, 1911 1,512,464 Hekrdle Oct. 21, 1924 

